Fun Plant Facts (really, they are fun, I promise)

Here are some interesting and funny facts I found about different plants. If you want a little light reading, continue on...

An African bugleweed synthesises in its tissues a substance similar to the hormone that controls the development of caterpillars.
If a caterpillar is persuaded, experimentally, to ingest that substance, then when it turns into a butterfly it will develop two heads
and die. -David Attenborough, The Private Life of Plants, p70

84% of a raw apple and 96% of a raw cucumber is water. Source of this fact
and the next fourteen.

A notch in a tree will remain the same distance from the ground as the tree grows.

A pineapple is a berry.

Arrowroot, an antidote for poisoned arrows, is used as a thickener in cooking (so if you ever get shot with a poison arrow, do not go
to a doctor, look in your kitchen cabinet.

Avocados have the highest calories of any fruit at 167 calories per hundred grams.

Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew cannabis sativa (marijuana) on their plantations.

In the Netherlands, in 1634, a collector paid 1,000 pounds of cheese, four oxen, eight pigs, 12 sheep, a bed, and a suit of clothes
for a single bulb of the Viceroy tulip.

No species of wild plant produces a flower or blossom that is absolutely black, and so far, none has been developed artificially.

Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously.

Peanuts are beans.

Quinine, one of the most important drugs known to man, is obtained from the dried bark of an evergreen tree native to South America.

The California redwood - coast redwood and giant sequoia - are the tallest and largest living organism in the world.

The largest single flower is the Rafflesia or "corpse flower". They are generally 3 feet in diameter with the record being 42 inches.

The oldest living thing in existence is not a giant redwood, but a bristlecone pine in the White Mountains of California, dated to be
aged 4,600 years old.

The rose family of plants, in addition to flowers, gives us apples, pears, plums, cherries, almonds, peaches and apricots.

Asparagus is a member of the lily family, which also includes onions, leeks, and garlic. Source of this fact
and the next three.

The bright orange color of carrots tell you they are an excellent source of Vitamin A which is important for good eyesight,
especially at night. Vitamin A helps your body fight infection, and keeps your skin and hair healthy.